Fire at a data centre. Is destruction a foregone conclusion? Find out why it isn’t the case at DC Alliance
With racks of valuable data to protect as well as precious manpower and equipment within, it’s easy to see why safe handling of fires is a major concern for Data Centres.
Traditionally, Data Centres rely on water or inert gas to suppress fires. These are effective, but both have inherent problems in terms of the collateral damage caused.
The cost of putting out a fire
The damage that water does is obvious. But inert gas systems can also cause issues like corrosive residue and hard-drive damage due to the massive percussive blast when the gas is released. While newer gas systems appear to have overcome the corrosive effects, questions remain over their long-term impact. It is also important to note that both these methods activate after the fact. By the time they kick in, the fire has already started and begun its destruction.
Prevention is better than Suppression
We did our research and decided that prevention of a fire is far more preferable than suppression. The physics of a fire requires three elements to be in place before one can occur – fuel, spark and oxygen. We only need to remove one of these elements and it becomes impossible for a fire to start.
Data centres are full of combustible electrical components to act as fuel. And sparks are an ever-present risk in any electrical system. So, that leaves oxygen as the only element that can be removed. Thus, at DCA | PIER we’ve adopted the use of the FirePASS Oxygen Reduction Fire Prevention system.
This is a fire prevention technology designed to prevent fires by using Hypoxic Air – a reduced oxygen environment where the oxygen content is less than 16%. That’s crucial because a fire needs at least 16% atmospheric oxygen to ignite. Anything below this, and a fire simply cannot start.
With our system, the oxygen in our PIER Data Hall is reduced and maintained at <14.9%, safely below the combustible level. The amount of oxygen is also the same as that in commercial airliners and is safe for people to work in for extended periods without any adverse effect. The system can be accessed online, and actively monitors the ‘protected’ environment, topping up the area with hypoxic air where necessary.
Active monitoring for peace of mind
Even though fires can never start in a Hypoxic environment, we’ve also added VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus) as an added layer of protection to the DCA | PIER facility.
That’s because pyrolysis can still occur. Pyrolysis is the thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. When that occurs, the overheated electrical components can emit harmful chemical fumes.
Our VESDA is designed to detect pyrolytic events and set off an alarm so that immediate action is undertaken. It’s also connected to the fire department as an added safety measure.
Safe for people and equipment
Together with the VESDA, our system provides the highest level of protection to all valuable assets, including ICT equipment and its data. It has a great track record, having been successfully implemented in electrical switch rooms, museums and libraries in Australia and overseas. In data centres, it is considered an uncommon – and especially elaborate - setup that DCA | PIER has adopted.
The system is also environmental friendly as no chemicals or gases are involved in the production of the Hypoxic Air, protecting the environment as well as the people working within our Data Centre.
Keen to find out more about how we have engineered our data centre for your benefit? Contact DC Alliance to chat!